Portugal's heat is spiking again this Wednesday — the south could brush 39°C
The heatwave hits a fresh peak on 22 July: 35 to 39°C inland and in the south, an unusually warm sea, and wildfire risk back on the table.
If the air felt heavy again this morning, it’s not just you. This Wednesday, 22 July, is the hottest day of this spell, with the interior and the south climbing two to three degrees above Tuesday and plenty of places landing between 35 and 39°C.
The heat bites hardest inland and along the eastern Algarve. In the Alentejo’s district capitals the thermometer sits near 36°C in Évora, 35 in Beja and 34 in Portalegre, while parts of the Tejo valley and Beira Baixa creep toward 39. There’s an added twist this time: the sea is unusually warm too, a marine heatwave that leaves the water at the beach milder than you’d expect.
Where will it be hottest today?
The oven is in the Alentejo interior, the Tejo valley and Beira Baixa — that’s where the highest numbers land, right up against 39°C. On the coast the sea breeze keeps things gentler, but the discomfort creeps in overnight: with tropical minimums above 20°C, sleeping turns into a workout. IPMA has kept southern districts under heat warnings, and the official weather alerts are always updated on the IPMA site.
How long does this heat spike last?
It’s a short peak: the worst is packed into 22 and 23 July, and it should ease a little after that. But real heat plus dry vegetation is the age-old recipe for fire, and Portugal has already had a rough summer on that front. The advice doesn’t change: drink water often, dodge the sun between 11am and 5pm, keep an eye on the elderly and small children, and no burning or leaving anything flammable lying around.
On the bright side, if your afternoon is free, it’s a packed-beach kind of day — just don’t forget the sunscreen and a hat. When the heat lands, the whole coast fills up, from the Algarve to the free-concert crowds heading to Cascais bay in August.
Image: CesareBonaparte / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
